Rev. RAY INNEN PARCHELO

is a novice Tendai priest and founder of the Red Maple Sangha, the first lay Buddhist community in eastern Ontario.

The Lance Armstrong saga is very sad, indeed. We might divide any lessons in three, those for Mr. Armstrong himself and those for us individually and as a society.

I have little use for cults of celebrity; the elevation of the ordinary and trivial to the status of role models seems a tragic affliction of our times, a reflection for our narcissistic craving for specialness. As such, I paid little attention to his pathetic attempts at self-justification or confession.

It is not clear whether he learned very much, beyond the importance of not getting caught. How could he ever explain his unethical behaviour to his children, and members of his family, let alone to the rest of us?

Forgiveness is his ultimate goal — I suspect he has a long, hard row ahead of him. We can only hope that he finds forgiveness for himself and from all the people he hurt. The lessons we can take away, include that we do not lie, cheat, or let a falsely inflated ego dictate how we conduct ourselves in private or public. Our behaviour matters and has consequences. No amount of money or celebrity will ever compensate for what was generated over many years.

As a society, it prompts us to reflect on our obsession with hero-fabrication of the undeserving. How are we served by yet another moronic viral YouTube accomplishment? Are we so superficial that such achievements are worthy of admiration?

There will always be a need for us to have heroes, people whose values and sacrifice are as important as their medals and achievements. We need to examine where we have placed the titles of heroes for our time.

We need to consider restoring the balance, so that ethical behaviour, fair play, compassion and generosity are what constitutes heroism.